U.S. Defense Policy

Venezuela launched a nationwide military exercise mobilizing roughly 200,000 troops, air and naval assets as the U.S. carrier USS Gerald R. Ford strike group arrived in the Caribbean amid a stepped‑up U.S. campaign of maritime missile strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats that U.S. officials defend as counter‑drug operations. The strikes — reported to include dozens of attacks and scores killed — have provoked regional and allied pushback, with Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro halting intelligence sharing with the U.S. and the U.K. reportedly suspending some sharing, while France, Mexico and others have criticized the operations even as President Trump says he might talk with Nicolás Maduro but keeps military options on the table.